I'd Rather Be Your Lover
by WickedFairyGodmother
Summary: Draco, leading 'Ladies Man' on a popular weekly soap, is 'outted' to the whole world. He turns to Harry, to help him gain a more respectable facade. Can a fake marriage save his career, or will it prove to be too much for either man to handle? AU
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Plan 

_Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended._

_Characters: Harry/Draco, various others but no other major pairings_

_Warnings: This is an AU; there is no magic and no Hogwarts. If using American terminology in a British setting bothers you then it's best for both of us that you click the back button and find something that you will enjoy, because I know I'm going to slip up somewhere. That being said, enjoy the story!_

Draco Malfoy was used to publicity; it was expected as he was the rising new star of Today's World, a modern soap opera with national syndication. This; however, was not the sort of attention that he usually craved. This was his very personal life splashed across the front pages of every rag newsprint in the city. As if the headline, "Soap's Sexy Ladies' Man has a Penchant for Male Prostitutes" wasn't damming enough. It seemed that the various pictures with the young man in question in various states of grand flagrante delicto, sealed his fate. He was ruined and moaned as much so to his friend as he sank down in the chair, trying to hide behind the brim of his hat.

"You're only making yourself more obvious," Blaise teased, a soft chuckle following as Draco sat up and glared at him. "Look, this can only be good for you, you realize that right?" He gave Draco an earnest look as he stirred the cup of tea before him.

"Easy for you to say," Draco barked, glaring venom at possibly the only person on earth still talking to him. "You are not the one being fucked by a gay rentboy on the front of every newspaper that sees fit to publish this vile filth!" He finished by throwing one of the said newspapers on the table, causing the tea to slosh over the sides of Blaise's cup.

"Don't you think that you are being a bit dramatic?" Blaise normally would have held his tongue, but this was almost an 'I told you so,' for he had been telling Draco for years that eventually this life would catch up with him, and it had. The proof was there in unattractive black and white. A deep sigh slipped from his lips and he looked from the paper to see his friend in a deep pout. "I can help you fix it," he said, wanting to wipe that look of Draco's face. It never boded well for either of them.

Draco scoffed visibly and turned his head to look at the other patrons, saying softly, "How?"

"I thought that you would never ask," Blaise replied, smiling at his tea. He wasn't Draco's manager for grins; he was actually quite good at what he did. "The damage is out and so are you. There is no point in trying to go back into the closet."

"Obviously," came the terse reply, but Draco was finally looking in his direction again.

"What you need is a gimmick. Something that will convince the people that you are willing to reform yourself and settle down…"

"I'm not willing to settle down. There is absolutely no way that I will ever settle down with one man and one man alone. It's simply impossible!"

Blaise held up his hand, this diatribe was all too familiar and he had heard it as many times as he had heard Draco lament always being alone. "You know that isn't true. You know there is one that you would settle down for..."

The words hung between them. Draco's jaw tensed and he looked about to say something when a flashbulb went off practically in their faces. Blaise scowled at the would-be photographer and Draco stood up so fast that his chair turned over. A waiter was to the man and security was taking him away before Draco could even pull back his fist. It seemed that you did get what you paid for, but the fact that he was even allowed in the café, well that was an ifaux pas/i that would have to be taken care of as soon as Blaise returned to his office.

Draco righted his chair and sat down, retrieving his hat from the floor and dusting it off. "Call him," Blaise said, segueing back into the earlier conversation. "It's been years and you know he has not done as well as you. I'm sure," He glanced around here, looking to see who might be listening. "Well, I am sure that he could be persuaded to take a job for the right price."

Draco stared at Blaise for a few moments, trying to find a flaw in his plan. When he had one he spoke again. "Harry hates me, and if you will recall, his parting words to me as he dumped my things out of his flat were, and I quote, 'I'm not gay, you arsehole'."

Blaise waved him off as he picked up his teacup and took a sip. "He was sucking your cock, that makes him at least bisexual and I am sure there was more that I was not privy too and I don't want to hear." He held up a hand to forestall the words he knew were forming on Draco's lips. The pervy little bastard was nothing if not predictable. "The fact of the matter is that he needs something and so do you. As with anything, I am sure that despite your personal feelings and his you can work to a compromise and find a decent solution. Take a week off from the show and set things up with him. I will of course arrange the press and make it sound as if the toll of this publicity has sent you back to the safety of his arms and you are picking up with where you left off."

Blaise was a blood genius, at least in Draco's esteem. If he could indeed convince Harry that his was a good idea, they might both come out ahead. "Tell me more," he said, turning his complete attention to the other man now.

"Gladly," Blaise replied, drawing a sheaf of papers from the briefcase at his feet to relay the rest of the plot.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Not all reunions are created equal

_Notes: See Chapter 1 for warnings and disclaimers, sorry for what I did to Ginny, I really do like the gel, but the plot needed something._

Draco was stalling. He knew that Harry was home; he had walked past his house several times now and caught glimpses of the man he once knew rather intimately. He just wasn't ready to see him after five years. They had spoken briefly on the phone and Draco had convinced Harry to see him, though with no small amount of cajoling.

Finally in exasperation, he opened the front gate and made his way toward the door. Harry must have been watching him approach, because the front door opened before he could even make it to the first step up. Draco stopped in his tracks looking Harry over; trying to take in the changes five years had wrought. Harry's eyes were still as deeply green though hid behind glasses now; his unruly hair was clipped close to his head, though he was still as lean as he had been when they were roommates, age had made his shoulders broader and filled him out in different ways.

He climbed the last few steps, his eyes on Harry and nodded in greeting. "Hello, thanks for seeing me…" He let the words drift off, waiting for a response from Harry.

"I only agreed to see you, nothing more," Harry replied, tugging on the faded t-shirt he was wearing, a nervous gesture that Draco knew too well. He stepped back in the house and motioned for Draco to come inside.

"I know, Harry, but," Draco stood close to him, looking at him close up for the first time in years. "Well I need your help."

"You said as much," Harry conceded, shutting the door and then turning to walk into the kitchen. Draco followed because it was what he had done for years where Harry was concerned. The house, he found from the small amount he could crane his neck to see, was an eclectic hodgepodge of memorabilia and antiques that Draco knew did not come from Harry's long dead parents. His musing were brought short as he arrived in an immaculate kitchen. Harry was offering him a place at the table and he took a seat, waiting to see what Harry did next.

As it turned out, Harry served him tea, keeping unnervingly quiet until finally Draco had enough of the polite sipping and spoke up. "Harry, I'm sure you've seen the papers and you know...well as Blaise puts it, I've finally received my comeuppance."

"You mean that your poor lifestyle has finally caught up with you five years later. You're lucky it was only in the papers and not in the form of some horrific incurable disease."

Draco winced at the words. There had been a point where he had not cared what had happened to him, but in the last year he had started taking more precautions, after an accident on one of the sets had finally convinced him that he was not immortal and never would be. "I'm much more careful than when you knew me, Harry. Those were even old photos that were posted in the pap..."

Harry cut him off by holding up his hand. "The fact is you were not careful in the past, of anything or anyone. You just used people until you used them up and by coming here, I know that you think there might be something left to use up in me, but you're wrong Draco. There is nothing left for you. You were a mistake of the past, and I don't make the same mistake twice."

Draco let out a whoosh of air. He'd been expecting this really, but to hear Harry put it that way -— well he could see why he's lost Harry the first time if he had ever really had him. "I'm not here to use you," he promised looking at Harry over their tea. "I'm here to offer you a chance at the role of a lifetime."

Harry raised a brow in disbelief and leaned back in his chair. "Go on then. Pitch your offer so I can send you on your way before dinner."

Draco bit back a response as he looked into his tea as if it were something as ridiculous as a fortune telling device, going over the words he had planned the night before. "I want to change Harry that is the honest truth. I want to be a -- well I want to be out about my life, but have a life that is respectable enough that I could be left alone to live it. Am I making any bit of sense?"

Harry was still watching him, his face emotionless. Draco had no idea when Harry had developed a poker face, because that was not something that he had, had when they were friends.

"I need your help in that respect," he continued since Harry had not stopped him. "You've always been the sensible one. You kept Blaise's hair on straight and you kept me out of more trouble situations than I can even remember." His fingers fiddled with the cup as he spoke, a far off look in his eyes. Draco didn't notice, but Harry did. "I know that was a long time ago and you are a different person now, we all are, but you're the only one I would trust to go to with this."

Harry nodded, the only indication that he was still following the conversation. Draco forged on, his fingers tightening around the cup. "I know that you're probably settled here, but I can help you find work, I have connections in the business..." He was getting ahead of himself he realized and stopped to explain.

"Blaise seems to think that if we posed as a couple and married, we would be high profile enough to gain positive attention and eventually they would tire of us and we could divorce. That of course would start a second round of publicity."

"Are you mad?" Harry finally spoke up, leaning forward over the table so he could be closer to yell at Draco. "You expect me to up heave my life just so you can go about building i your /i career and when things are good again, you're going to toss me aside?! You have to be out of your bleeding mind if you think I am going to agree to this, Draco." Harry sat back in the chair, holding in any further words with, what looked to Draco, great effort.

Harry's arms were crossed over his chest; never a good sign in any conversation, Draco decided to switch tactics. "That is not at all what I am asking Harry. What I am asking you is to take on a grand role, you'll get a good sum of money for it and then we part ways once i we /i decide it is time. It's a role Harry, just like you would take on in one of your plays. You can't honestly tell me right at this very moment that you would profess your undying love for me and decide to live with me until we are senile old men. Can you?" Draco held his breath waiting for the answer, even though he wasn't sure what he wanted it to be.

"Of course not," Harry confirmed his arms relaxing to rest on the table. "I wouldn't have been pining for you all these years. It wasn't as if we had anything real then anyway."

It was on the tip of his tongue to ask if Harry thought that they could have something now, but honestly he didn't need to be kicked in the teeth to get the point. "Well then this would only be a temporary thing at best and you would get the money that you need to keep up Ginny's care." He hadn't wanted to use that as leverage, but he was getting desperate here.

As he thought, Harry tensed up again but avoided eye contact with him. "I had Blaise check; I know that her care is getting more expensive and you know her family could never afford it. I can make sure that you never have to worry about her bills again." He leaned back away from the table, cradling his teacup in his hands. Ginny had gone to school with them and was apparently a childhood friend of Harry's from what Draco gathered at University. She was a vivacious if not annoying redhead that had tagged along after Harry for several years until she had an unfortunate accident in her bathroom. Draco didn't know the full truth, but he knew enough to know that it wasn't an accident. Harry felt so guilty that a majority of his trust fund had gone to the care of the girl who was in a persistent vegetative state and would likely never recover, or so Draco had gleaned from various reports Blaise had found.

Harry had gone from being closed off to leaning his elbows on the table his hands covering his eyes his glasses hanging from his fingers. Draco knew he had hit a nerve, though he wasn't sorry at all. He needed Harry and if he had to pull emotional strings to get his compliance then this would only be the beginning.

"I want her moved to better facilities, I want the best care she could possibly have, no expenses spared." Harry pulled his hands away from his eyes after a few quiet moments. He was resigned to this if he could have this one thing.

"Done. I would have moved her anyway; the reports from that place are dreadful. I'll have Blaise arrange for it if you will move in this weekend. You don't have to bring everything with you yet."

"We need ground rules, because I know how you operate Draco Malfoy. I want them drawn up and signed before I move in."

"Do you have paper and pen?" Draco asked, leaning forward to rest his arms on the table, all business now.

Harry stood and rummaged around until he returned with a notepad and pen then sat down to take notes. "Sex, when and _if_ it happens will be on my terms."

Harry was such a prude. "All right, I'll give you that if you allow that I can touch and kiss you when I please."

"Define touch, because if you grab my crotch in public I'm going to make you regret it for a very long time."

Draco sighed, "Fine. Casual lovers' touches. If we don't at least hold hands no one is going to buy that we are together."

"Done," Harry replied parroting Draco's earlier use of the word. Draco didn't care much for that or the glint that Harry's eyes had taken on. "I want my friends to be allowed to visit at least once a week."

Draco grinned maliciously at him. "As long as mine can visit an equal amount of time on a separate evening." Harry frowned at those words, but nodded his acquiescence to this request.

"I get to dress you too," he added, looking over Harry's current attire. "You're moving up in the world and you should reflect that."

Harry glared at him but wrote something on the pad of paper. "I get final say on where we go when we are together."

"I'll agree if I can have three automatic 'yeses' a month." He wasn't about to roll over and let Harry take control of everything.

"As long as they aren't clubs then I will agree to three a month."

That hadn't worked out exactly as Draco had wanted it, at the least he hoped that Harry was as susceptible to suggestion as he had been in the past. "Agreed. Is there anything else?"

"I want two days a month to myself, completely and absolutely alone to do as I please. You can't follow me and you can't ask about what I am doing." Draco didn't like the idea of that, but the set of Harry's jaw told him he was going to lose if he didn't agree to this one thing. Blaise had assured him that Harry hadn't dated anyone in almost two years and it was rare that he went anywhere besides visiting his friends, so honestly there was probably no harm in agreeing to this request.

"All right," he said after a few moments consideration. Harry pushed over the set of rules he had written and made two xs at the bottom so they both could sign. Draco signed with his usual flourish, thinking the whole thing was ridiculous. Harry's signature was neat and dark, the pen lines pressed deep into the paper as if he was trying to hold back some deep amount of passion within himself. Or maybe Draco was just telling himself stories to make this all seem much less tawdry than it really was. Either way, this was going to be an interesting union.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: I can make you a man --maybe

Notes: See disclaimer and warnings in chapter 1

Dedication: This one goes out to the lady who first talked me into playing Draco to her Harry. They fell in love once and may they always fall in love again and again

This was a horrible idea. Completely terrible and could only end in heartache for him and yet he couldn't stop his feet as he walked from the parking garage into the building. He handed over his ID card to the doorman and waited as it was confirmed that he should indeed be allowed to join Malfoy in his apartment. He hoisted his bag onto this shoulder and took the carrier in hand as he went up the lift, using a private floor key, and arrived in the sumptuously appointed foyer of Draco Malfoy's penthouse flat.

He sat the carrier down and opened the door letting the ginger cat free to roam. He'd have to set up a litter box and food bowl later, but for now Chester needed to be free to roam around. 'Besides,' he reasoned to himself, 'this place could do with a bit of life.'

He left his bag by the carrier and moved into the main room, noting that all of the outer walls were made of glass, giving the effect of being in a giant aquarium looking out into the city. It was utterly depressing and ostentatious, though utterly Draco. The man didn't have a shy bone in his body and the voyeuristic possibility with the neighbouring buildings was quite high. More than anything, he enjoyed impressing people. He had come from an obscene amount of wealth, and though he had lost it all, he had still done very, very well for himself.

Though he still needed _something_ and Harry had agreed to this not only for Ginny's sake, but for Draco's as well.

Hours later, Draco arrived home to his flat and was met face to face with an ugly orange demon -- at least that was what he was going to call it. Incensed at the presence of an _animal_ in his abode, he stalked into the main rooms to look for Harry. He didn't have to go far until he found him curled up on the sofa, looking out at the skyline. Harry was incongruous with everything in the room and everything that Draco had been raised to believe and trust.

"You came," he breathed, sinking into the couch beside Harry. The other man turned to give him a sidelong glance.

"Of course I did, Draco, I always keep my word."

"So you do." Draco looked past him, out the massive windows. "Are you sure that you are up for this? It's going to completely change your life."

"It's going to change yours too," he reminded and leaned forward to scratch Chester's head. The cat, having heard the conversation, wanted his due attention as all of his species did.

Draco sat back and watched Harry interact with the cat for a few moments before commenting. "I know that isn't Granger's cat, that fleabag has to be dead by now." Draco really disliked animals unless there were served on a plate, piping hot for him to enjoy.

"No, it isn't," Harry agreed, picking the cat up to put it in his lap. The feline purred, kneading his feet in pleasure at the attention. Harry stroked through his long fur, ignoring Draco. "This is Crookshanks' grandson. Crookshanks passed and Hermione has his daughter still, Augusta is her name."

"Yes well, fascinating at that is, why did you bring _it_ here?" He made a face at the cat who seemed to return the favour. Draco was almost sure that he saw the beast flex its razor like claws as a warning and visions of his leather couches in tatters sprang to mind He frowned at Harry. "Couldn't someone watch him while you are here?"

"No, he is part and parcel of the package Draco, perhaps you should do a bit more checking up on a person before you make a deal." Harry was angry and Draco knew it. To be fair, he hated when papers and people dug into his life and his past, though a good part of his life was open for the public. Still, the ends justified the means, he had Harry here and they were actually starting on something.

"Right. Just be sure to keep him off my furniture and out of my bed."

"I'm sure that we will both steer clear of the later." Harry gave him dry look, cat hair flying off the cat with an unerring aim for landing and sticking to Draco's slacks.

Just—brilliant.

-----------------

Shopping had proven to be as trying an affair as Draco had thought it would be. Harry's wardrobe consisted of worn t-shirts, holey jeans, and no less than five pairs of sandals. Draco didn't even think that he owned any clothing to survive the chilly winters. The idiot. Harry had fallen asleep on the couch the previous night and had not availed himself of the bed that Draco had moved into what was once his study. Furthermore, his natural shyness about his body was making this trip absolute h-e-l-l. Harry didn't want to model most of the clothing that Draco chose for him and kept checking the price tags.

"You're being tedious, Harry," he finally snapped after the sixteenth pair of perfectly fine jeans was sent away. He knew Harry was either being obtuse or cheap and he could not abide either of those. He clamped his jaw shut, unwilling to make a scene when he needed to look better in the public eye, but something had to change. Draco walked into the dressing room and pulled the door shut behind him locking them both inside. "What gives, Potter? You agreed to shopping and now you're being difficult?"

Harry frowned at him, making a deep furrow in his forehead. "I'm not being difficult." He stubbornly crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Draco. Oh who was the drama queen now?

Draco sighed and ran a hand through his perfectly quaffed hair, barely refraining from rolling his eyes. "You need new clothing," he said, trying to be logical about this when he only wanted to throttle Harry. After all if he passed out, Draco would have no trouble finding clothes he wouldn't mind Harry wearing when they were seen together. "This isn't college, you have to give up your bohemian style and start dressing for success."

Harry mulishly stuck his lip out at that and tilted his head back looking all the more defiant. "Do you or do you not want to have a successful film career instead of doing sleepy little plays in sleepy little theatres for the rest of your natural life?"

Draco was sure that Harry could find no argument with that. But then he forgot that Harry could be unpredictable at best. The look on his face when from mulish to outraged.

"You mean," Harry hissed at him through clinched teeth, "do I want to be a vapid social whore like you, depending on what people think of me to boost my poor self-esteem?"

Draco stared at him open mouthed not believing what he heard. He audibly snapped his jaw shut and moved quick enough to pin the other man to the wall. "You unmitigated little bitch. You don't know a damn thing about my life, my hopes or my aspirations." He was staring down at Harry, having pinned his wrists to the wall before he could slink down to the floor.

They were both breathing heavily; adrenaline pumping thought their systems as they glared at each other. This was how things ended up with them more often then not when they were younger. Draco let go of Harry's wrists and stepped back to sink onto the bench in the room. He ran his hands over his face and sighed deeply. "Fuck, if this how we act over clothing I don't know how this is going to work…"

Harry had slunk down to the floor and now watched him, not making an effort to get up yet. "I'm sorry I said those things to you, you're right, I don't know you anymore. And you don't know me. I'm not the same boy I was when you left."

"Neither am I, Potter." He took his hands from his face and stared at the young man slumped in the floor across from him. Harry had changed perhaps more than Draco had thought, but had he himself changed? "Let's leave off here and get something to eat, then we can try this again somewhere else."

Harry nodded his agreement to Draco's suggestion and hauled himself up off the floor. Draco remained on the bench watching him when the shy young man turned his back to change. Draco was granted a full and glorious view of Harry's very taut arse.

'He certainly didn't look like that when we were together,' Draco mused to himself as he tried to think of a way to save this fiasco. He desperately needed Harry's cooperation as much as he needed the other man to 'look the part'. Lovelorn, dried up, old biddies had to believe that their favourite ladies man had settled down to a nice fresh-faced young man.

Draco stood and collected the things Harry had deemed alright and heading out of the room, face still flushed from their earlier disagreements, he handed the clothing off to a flustered young sales lady. Harry followed behind him, more subdued than he had been before. The girl rang them up and Draco arranged to have the items delivered to his place.

Harry took Draco's hand as they left the store, his way of apologising, and walked along with him quietly. "What are you in the mood for?" Draco asked tiredly after they had past several stores.

"Take away of any kind," Harry said as he twisted around to look one more time into a rather interesting shop.

"You really don't get out often do you?" He had speculated with Blaise, but now confirmed with the reality of his suspicions he was less likely to take a flippant attitude. The Harry he knew wasn't a rube, he was a bit backwards and perhaps simple, but he did not stare at all and sundry as if he were at a sideshow trying to get his money's worth. Draco had to wonder again what had changed in the intervening years; though he was afraid that the answer would be –him.

"No," Harry agreed, looking at him again. "There isn't much around where I live and I prefer the quiet life."

Draco wasn't sure if that was another blow from Harry or not, but he decided not to comment. "How would you feel if someone came to the flat to fit you for clothing? At least some of your wardrobe?" They would both win that way, Harry wouldn't have to feel that he was completely on display in public and Draco wouldn't have to look at the god-awful clothing the other man seemed to prefer wearing.

Harry caught his eye again and nodded. It would do and Draco realized that this—whatever this was—was going to take a lot more work than he had suspected. Life could never be simple for him.

------------

They picked up curry and took it home, Harry hated the trip up less this time, but the cold sterility of the place was still something he was going to work to change. There was no telling how long he was going to be staying here and if he was to make it a home, things needed to change. He followed Draco in the immaculate kitchen and watched as he sat out plates and divided up the food. Draco sat them at a table in the breakfast nook and retrieved two drinks for them. "Come sit, we don't stand and eat here like barbarians." Harry frowned at Draco as he stood up from where he was leaned on the bar and moved into the breakfast nook, taking a seat at the table.

"I don't stand and eat at my house," he answered defensively, picking up his fork, his eyes on his food to avoid glaring at Draco. He had vowed to himself as he stood alone in the dressing room that morning that he wasn't going to fight with Draco anymore today if he could help it. He didn't want the offer rescinded and Ginny moved back to that place she was in previously.

Draco sighed across the table from him and viciously stabbed a piece of chicken. "All right, that was an unfair comment as you did sit when you served me tea." Why did he feel the need to apologize to Harry all the time?

Harry watched him bite into the chicken and he suddenly remembered something. "Oh my god…Chester!" He bolted from the table, leaving Draco staring at the piece of chicken hanging from his fork, trying to make the connection between it and Potter's cat.

Harry was tearing around the house looking under furniture when Draco finally pulled himself from the table to see what exactly was wrong with the other man. "Potter, can I ask why you are crawling around on my floor?"

Harry looked up at him and frowned. "I can't find Chester, I saw the packages in the front and I know someone has been here…sometimes Chester likes to go out…" He trailed off as he resumed looking under the couches.

"For the love of…" Draco ground out, turning sharply on his heel and walking back to the kitchen. "Of all the stupid…ignorant…dunderheaded…" He continued to curse as he looked around the room. He was not looking for the beast for Harry's sake, though; he only wanted to have his food and then get something done today. Couldn't one thing be simple where Harry was involved?

He marched out of the room, nonplussed to find Harry almost upside down as he looked under the entertainment centre. He sighed again and walked in his room.

The screech had Harry on his feet and in Draco's room in record time. He stopped short in the doorway and looked at Draco seething with rage as he poked at something on his bed. "Potter! What is this beast doing here? He's shedding on my blankets…need I tell you that this blanket cost more than your house?"

Harry was amused for all of three seconds until the slight about his finances entered the equation. He moved into the room and picked up the cat, hearing a sleepy protesting mew from the animal. He gave Draco an icy look and stepped out of the room back towards his own room, though he had yet to stay there.

"Potter, don't you dare walk away from me! We agreed that, that—beast -- would not get on my bed." Harry stopped in his tracks and glared at the other man; he was certainly getting tired of the shouting. This was turning out to be as bad an idea as he had thought that it would be.

"I'm packing, Malfoy. I don't want to stay anywhere with someone that is obviously kin to a banshee."

"We agreed he would stay off my furniture and my bed." Draco moved in front of him, arms crossed over his chest.

Harry would have run his hands over his face in frustration if his hands were not full of a fluffy cat. "He's a cat; he has a mind of his own. A bit like you, if you don't mind the comparison."

"I'm nothing like a cat!" He protested, arms waving as if that would illustrate his point. Harry just stood looking at him. Draco was everything like a cat, but he couldn't see it. Perhaps he would learn if Harry stayed for a while.

"Look, I'm leaving, so move." He tried to walk around Draco but was blocked at every turn. "Stop fucking around!" He'd finally lost his temper and just wanted away from this confrontation.

"Look Potter, just keep him off my bed and this won't happen again." Draco didn't want this to escalate further than it had and he was willing again to make a compromise.

"Keep your door closed and he can't get on your bed." Harry glared at him through his fringe.

"It's my home, Potter."

"Cats don't follow rules like dogs," Harry replied stepping around him to take the cat to his room. He sat him on the bed and then closed the door. Turning around he found himself face to face with Draco again. "I know, it's your home, but you're going to have to allow me a few things if I'm going to be staying here for any amount of time. I can't live in a sterile environment." He pursed his lips and looked at Draco's chest instead of his eyes.

Draco opened his mouth to protest then closed it, looking at Harry's closed off expression. He knew the way Harry had grown up, neglected until he was old enough to reach his majority to be liberated from his guardians. He nodded. "As long as it isn't as cluttered as your home," he added as an afterthought.

Harry couldn't help the smile that broke out on his lips. "Thanks," he said as they made their way back to the kitchen and their curry.


End file.
